2. Matheny’s decision

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny may have been sensing a Game 7 early in Game 6. He left his starting pitcher, Chris Carpenter, in as the Giants were scoring four runs in the bottom of the second inning, then let Carpenter hit for himself in the next half-inning with the Cardinals trailing 5-0.

Carpenter went on to pitch two more scoreless innings, so in that respect the decision wasn’t an awful one, just curious. Matheny has tapped his bullpen plenty this postseason, and forcing it to cover more than six innings had he lifted Carpenter in the second would have been asking a lot, especially with a Game 7 the next night looming.

Matheny's decision to let Carpenter hit in the third inning could be seen as a white flag, however. The Cardinals badly needed offense at that point and Carpenter predictably struck out. Matheny saved the bullpen two innings of work even though it contains pitchers who were starters in the minors and majors this season and can go multiple innings if needed.

3. No defending this

Nothing about the Cardinals has been particularly pretty this season. They were the second wild-card team. They won the play-in game partly because of an infield fly that wasn’t an infield fly. They squeaked past the Washington Nationals in a dramatic Game 5 of the NL Division Series.

Then there is the ugly defense the team has played during the NLCS. St. Louis has committed four errors, which have led to 10 unearned runs for the Giants.

San Francisco's three wins have come in games in which bad Cardinals defense has led to runs.